I have created a very small android app. I don't want to publish it to public. I just want my other friend to run my app on his phone. I don't have android phone but my friend has one. I have developed the app using eclipse IDE. How do I bundle it to apk and give it to him. I am a beginner (even less than a beginner) - please tell me what should I do ?
Follow these instructions (read from where it says Compile and sign with Eclipse ADT), then email him the apk! He'll need to put in on his phone's SD card and install it from there.
I assume you are using Android Studio for application development.
Follow these steps:
Go to "build" from the navigation bar in Android Studio.
Go to "build bundle(s)/APK(s)" from the drop down that appears.
Click on "build APK(s)". You will get a notification box at the bottom right of your screen.
Click on "locate". Two files will appear. One is a ".json" file and one is an ".apk" file.
Send these files to your friends on WhatsApp and tell them to download the JSON file and install the APK file. Now your application is running.
You are done.
If you email him the apk using it's gmail he can install it from within the gmail app opening the attachment :P.
Here is a link to the android developer's documentation on other ways to share your app.
The easiest way to share an app is by sending it through e-mail. In order to share it via e-mail, you need to prepare your app for release and then attach it to the email and send it. After that , anyone receiving the email can instantly install the app through the click of a button.
Although there's many steps in creating the app the most important is creating a keystore and a key for your app which will help you generate a signed app. Once you have the signed app you can also share the apk file by itself wherever needed, you're not restricted to sending it via e-mail. Make sure your friends have their setting set for installing apps from unknown sources
through the Settings >> Security menu.
If you need any more help let me know.
Hope this helps you :)
If you are using Android studio that's too simple,
go to Build -> Build Bundle(s) / APK(s) -> Build APK (s).
Wait till the build is completed.
In the corner, you will see some like this screenshot. Click on Locate.
There in the opening folder, your app is located with the name
app-debug.apk
Share this app file with friends.
Note: Friends may get a warning like this
tell them to click on
INSTALL ANYWAY
You are done!
In Android Studio Menu Build > "Generate Signed APK". Follow the instructions on screen at the last step let yourself show the place where the release APK is placed (on my Mac it says "Show in Finder"). E-Mail that apk file to your friend. When an alert comes up that apps from unknown sources cannot be accepted the settings can be temporarily overridden and then it will work.
1st In Android studio navigate to "Build" then generate a signed .apk (MUST USE .APK) If you want to share it without publishing it on google play. 2nd upload the .apk
to your google drive, then on google drive right click the .apk then click on copy link. Last share and copy this link with any one or anywhere on the internet. If you want to trestrict to only few people go back to google drive right click on the .apk once again select or mention a category of people you will want to share with.
NOTE:
IF YOU SHARE THE LINK PUBLIC ON THE INTERNET WHENEVER SOMEONE OR ANYONE CLICK ON IT, IT WILL BE DOWNLOADED AUTOMATICALLY AND INSTALLED BY PACKAGE INSTALLER
Related
I have a cross platform Xamarin app that I have already delivered to App Store Connect for internal testing and it works great. It was not an easy process but now that it is setup properly my testers get an email every time I upload a new version for them to test.
I expected a similarly arduous task to get the Android version up on to Google Play for testing and I was not wrong. There is a lot of documentation (for instance https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/android/deploy-test/publishing/publishing-to-google-play/?tabs=windows) but much seems out-of-date and I kept getting stuck and frustrated that this has to be so complicated. However, I finally have achieved some success and I wanted to share my procedure and I have a question at the end.
In VS change from debug to release
Right click on Droid project and select properties - under Android
options/Android package format select bundle
Right click on Droid project and select archive - this will initially
build a bundle that is not signed so it can’t be uploaded to Google
Play but we will use it to create a Signing Identity.
Once the archive is done the Archive Manager will open. Select it
and tap the Distribute button. Select the Google Play channel.
On the Signing Identity page use the + to create a new Android
Keystore. This will not be applied to the current bundle so we must
do the archive again to get it signed.
Back in the Droid project properties select Android Package Signing,
check the checkbox to sign the .APK, although we are actually
creating a bundle and not the .APK. Navigate to the Keystore and
provide the password that you just created. Also, fill in the Alias
using the name of the keystore and provide the password again. I am
not sure why this necessary. Now we can create another archive as
before but it will be signed!
Theoretically one could then use the Distribute button of the Archive
Manager to upload the bundle to Google Play, but that requires you to
have an OAuth client on Google Play. I could not figure this out (it
requires an SHA-1 certificate fingerprint that I could not find) and
fortunately there is another way.
After logging in to Google Play use the All apps / Create App button
to create the app project that will be used for testing and release.
There are a lot of hoops to jump through but they do a pretty good
job of walking you through the whole process. You won’t be able to
initiate testing until all the requirements are fulfilled.
There are two notable steps:
For certain permissions you will need a privacy policy online. I
used this site to create mine:
https://pages.flycricket.io/gammadog/privacy.html
For certain permissions you will need a YouTube video explaining how
your app uses these features. Here is mine:
https://youtu.be/GVbKg1OS7Lk
After setting up your Google Play app project (whew!) you can now select it under
All apps. On the left side there is a Testing section. Select
Internal testing and then Tap the Create new release button.
Back in your VS Archive Manager tap the Open Folder button to reveal
your archive (.aab). You can now drag this to the App bundles upload
rectangle on the Google Play app project/Internal Testing/Releases tab. It will upload the bundle and check its
requirements. If you are like me you will have to go and fix things
in your Google Play project (jump through a few more hoops) before it
will upload without error.
Still in your Google Play app project/Internal Testing select the Testers tab. Here is where you set up your testers. Presumably there is a way to send a bulk email to all testers at once but I don't see how to do that.
However, there is a "Copy link" under "How testers join your test". The confusing thing is that initially the "Copy link" is not active and there is no indication as to why. After some time it finally becomes active and you can send this in an email to your testers.
So here is my question:
I have been using an Android tablet for testing this app and it works perfectly when loaded from VS. However, when I click on the link from my email that takes me to Google Play to install it the install never completes and it just sits there spinning forever. Has anyone else run into this and come up with a solution?
I am trying to send my created app to testers and supervisors. I can't get ahold of their phones to run the app from my laptop. Is there anyway i can send them the app to download without deploying to the store.
I am using Android studio for the code, and the app is for android.
you can upload your apk file to your Google Drive and share the app link with others , to whom you wish to share and test the code.
link :
it is the most simplest way for sharing.
Click Build then select build Apks(s)
Once done, Click locate on the popup that appears on the bottom right, or go to the event log at the bottom right to see the dialog if the build is successful
Go to File Uploader and upload the app_debug
Send the link to your friends and let them download and install the app
You can just mail them the APK file. Or you can set up a beta or alpha channel in the Play Store, and make them alpha/beta testers in a closed alpha/beta.
I have created a custom Android app for my blog and I want when someone visits the blog a notification to pop up that will say that there is an Android app for the blog and an option to install it.
I haven't yet posted the app on Google Play and only have an APK file.
You could use a simple JS popup to notify the user about the download but this isn't your main problem.
By default a user will not be able to download and install an apk file quite so simply. There is a setting to prevent a user from installing apps that are not from Google Play. They would first need allow your application to be installed from their settings menu. This is done with the option: Settings >> Applications >> Unknown sources
Beyond this you would need to have the user trust that your app is not malicious and answer the question "why can you not deploy this app via Google Play as normal?"
You can make it a download link by just putting the apk file in a shared folder in your dropbox folder (like dl.dropboxusercontent.com/....../YourApp.apk).
But still the problem that Scott Helme told you about will exist (Users will have to admid unknows sources).
This is a solution that i used to give an app to specific people without publishing my app in the Play Store.
Hope it helps you.
I created a small Android project during my free time, and I decided to give a group of people I specifically know of to try the app out. The group of people created a forum community where everyone gathers around to share some of their own projects. They usually upload their programs written in C++, Java, C#, and sometimes give out tips to newcomers.
I wrote an app that does bitmap manipulation stuffs, and was hoping that others can easily test the app out without having to go through Google Play market. I just don't want my app to go entirely public to anyone in the market.
I told them that I am going to upload an Android app so they can check my project out. I understood that they are all not Android developers, so they haven't seen anyone in the community upload an Android app onto the forums yet.
So, I started to do a little research on this.
I thought about exporting the project as an unsigned Android app, but a Google search made me realize that unsigned Android app can't be installed onto an Android phone, even with "Unknown sources - Allow installation of non-Market apps" ticked in the Settings -> Security menu.
Another way I tried to do is to self-sign the application. I give the app 1 year before the certification is invalid, signed the app by using the Eclipse -> Export Android application wizard. I uploaded the app, and got notified by one of the group of people that the app can't be installed onto their phone.
This is where I am stuck and now I'm clearly in need of assistence. Is there a way you can upload an Android app onto a forum, let another user download the APK file, and install it onto their phone with no hassle? Just want to keep this testing session in private, if it matters.
Thanks in advance.
An easy way that I use to let users download and test an app is to ask them to do this:
Settings -> Applications -> Unknown Sources -> Tick the Check box
Then export an unsigned APK of your app and make it available to them. An easy way is to upload the APK to dropbox or host it on your website or to just email the file to them. Once they've downloaded the APK, they can just open it and it will install and run.
You can install an unsigned APK file if you tick the option in Settings -> Security menu.
You can upload your apk to GP as alpha-version, publish it and allow test for this peoples.
They will can download this app from GP.
when i am publishing my application to android market i am getting this error:Market does not accept apks signed with the debug certificate. Create a new certificate that is valid for at least 50 years.
i don't know how to solve it.
can any one help me?
Thanks in Advance
Aamirkhan I.
You have to create your own certificate to release your app in the Market. If you're using eclipse follow this.
Right-click on your project > Android Tools > Export Signed Application Package...
If your project is chosen, press next.
Select: Create new keystore, set the path and password, press next
Fill the form, (Validity = 1000), next
Save the APK somewhere and press finish
Important
Save the keystore where you always find it and make a backup somewhere. You need this keystore to update your app. If you lose it you won't be able to update your app anymore. Not even Google can help you, if you lose it. So make a backup on your hard drive, online, external hard drive, ... This is a very important file.
But please use this site before you post something here.
Check the link posted by Warpzit. The debug key store is used only for running application on the emulator. Please sign the application in the release mode for uploading it to the android market.